1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a print control method and a print control apparatus for executing a printing process in correspondence to a draw command from an application and also relates to a print control program for performing a print data process which can be executed by a computer and a memory medium in which a computer-readable program has been stored.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, it has become more and more common to use network apparatuses, that is, to use a network to which a number of personal computers (hereinafter, abbreviated to “PCs”) and printers are connected. In such a network environment, in order to shorten printing time for a document having a given number of pages or that is to be printed as a given number of copies, a system (distribution printing system) such that a print job is once spooled, distributed, and outputted page by page or copy by copy to a plurality of printers has been known.
Further, in such a network environment, in order to reduce costs and time in printing a document in which color pages and monochromatic pages exist mixedly, a system (color/monochromatic distribution printing system) such that the color pages are distributed and outputted to a color printer and the monochromatic pages are distributed and outputted to a monochromatic printer has been known.
Moreover, in such a network environment, a system (multiple address print system) such that one document is simultaneously transmitted to a plurality of printers and printed by one print instruction has been known.
In addition, in such a network environment, there ahs also been known a system (error substitute print system) such that if an error occurs in the printer to which the document has been transmitted for printing, the job is automatically switched to another printer and printed.
In a general printer driver, fundamental set information (for example, the number of print copies and permission/inhibition information of a duplex print) which is necessary for an ordinary printing process has been stored in an area called a common area (Public DEVMODE) of driver set information. It has been known that in the information set in such an area, set items can be read out and written even using a printer from a different vendor.
Certain functions which are peculiar to the printer, for example, a stapling function, a punching function, and a book-binding printing function, have been stored in an expansion area (expanded DEVMODE) of the driver set information. In the set information in such an area, the format differs depending on the printer vendor.
A virtual printer driver for issuing print instructions in a lump to a plurality of printer devices as described above has also been known.
However, in a user interface of the conventional virtual printer driver, the various available outputting methods and the printer driver serving as a target for a selected outputting method (that is, the driver called upon to execute the job using the selected method) are not made to correspond to each other. Each time the user changes outputting method, it is necessary to reconstruct the target printer driver (corresponding to a corresponding printer device), or each time the user reconstructs the target printer driver, it is necessary to change and reset the print setting.
Since it is troublesome to reset the print setting each time the outputting method is changed, there is also a method of setting items in the print setting to be fixed in their contents. However, according to such a method, the contents of print set items to be set in a lump are limited to a small range of possible settings (for example, paper size is set to only A4 or the like) which is suitable for any printer. Consequently, this approach is not one that permits the full range of functions/abilities of each printer to be sufficiently utilized.
In the distribution printing, color/monochromatic distribution printing, multiple address print, substitute print, and the like methods described above, it is presumed that the combination of optimum target printers is naturally different, depending on the outputting method. It is very troublesome and difficult for the user to memorize all the various combinations of printers for the different outputting methods.